«

»

BULLETINS “IISEPS NEWS” N 1 (15) MARCH

IISEPS News, N 1 (15), 2000

Content:

Preface

Building an Information and Analytical Infrastructure for Private Enterprise:
W. Workman, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, CIPE
What Goes Into a U.S. Company’s Decision on Whether to Invest Overseas, or the Twelve Commandments for International Investors
Prof. O. Manaev, IISEPS
The Necessity of Building an Information and Analytical Structure of Private Enterprise
Dr. L. Zaiko, Analytical Center “Strategy”
The Framework of Business and Private Enterprise: the Social and Economic Aspects
Prof. S. Bogdankevich, Belarusian United Civil Party
Cooperation Between Political Parties and Business: a Liberal Solution
Dr. Y. Drakokhrust, IISEPS
The Experience of Private Enterprise and Political Preferences
Dr. A. Sasnow, IISEPS
The Economic Preferences of Entrepreneurs
Y. Podolski, Moguilev City Union of Entrepreneurs and Taxpayers
Some Reasons for the Criminalization of Private Enterprise in the Republic of Belarus
Prof. G. Yevelkin, “Olkhon” Ltd.
The Main Problems and Information Needs of Small Business (a Case of Minsk)
Dr. V. Vorobyev, Dr. V. Kovalev, Center of Support for Private Enterprise “Agrobuisiness Center”
The Development of Information and Analytical Infrastructure for Private Enterprise (a Regional Aspect)
V. Petelchits, Center of Support for Private Enterprise “Bonton-Fax”
Information Support for Private Enterprise (Experience of Grodno Region)
N. Baklanov, Vitebsk Gorpromtorg company
The Experience of the Vitebsk Information and Analytical Center
L. Kovshik, BUEE
Some Results of the Activities of the Gomel Information and Analytical Center

Open Forum:
Prof. Yu. Khadyka, Belarusian Popular Front
Can Political Analysis Have No Party Affiliation?
Dr. M. Zalesski, Economic Recearch Institute at the Ministry of the Economy
“Strategy for Belarus: a Concept of National Development” – Will it Help to Define the Prospects of Our Society?

A Tribute to a Colleague

Preface:

Dear readers!

This issue of the IISEPS quarterly bulletin contains materials, which reflect the most interesting results of analysis and research conducted in the first quarter of 2000.
The institute has completed a large project “The Building an Information and Analytical Infrastructure for Private Enterprise in Belarus,” in cooperation with the Belarusian Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers in the name of Professor Kunyavsky and with support from the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE, Washington, D.C.). Within the framework of this project, scientific and practical seminars were conducted in all the regional centers of the country, information and analytical groups of the BUEE were formed, data bases on the social, economic and political issues of the development of private enterprise were formed and several issues of newsletters were published with the aggregated circulation of 2,000 copies. All the above activities were based on the results of the research conducted by the IISEPS.
The national conference “The Building an Information and Analytical Infrastructure for Private enterprise in Belarus,” which took place in Minsk in early March, was devoted to the discussion of the results of the project and the prospects of development of private enterprise in Belarus. About 100 members of the BUEE and other associations of entrepreneurs, experts of the IISEPS and other analytical centers, political party leaders, representatives of state agencies and the leading civil society structures, diplomats and journalists took part.
US Ambassador to Belarus, Daniel Speckhard, and an aide to President of the Republic of Belarus, Piotr Kapitula, opened the conference. They highly appreciated the role of private enterprise in the development of modern state and society. Especially interesting was a presentation by Willard A. Workman, vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and vice president of CIPE, which was devoted to the main principles, problems and prospects of the development of private enterprise in the USA and throughout the world. In this issue of the IISEPS bulletin you will found an excerpt from his presentation, “What goes into a U.S. company’s decision on whether to invest overseas, or The Twelve Commandments for international investors.” The subsequent discussion showed that the opinions of entrepreneurs, scientists, politicians and journalists about the ways to increase the role of private enterprise in the development of Belarusian society and state are very diverse. Sometimes, people from the capital see the situation quite differently from their colleagues from the country’s regions. This was just another testimony to the necessity of similar research and discussions. Without reliable information, professional analysis and constant sharing of experience the effective coming of entrepreneurs to the public arena is impossible.
In our traditional section “The Open Forum” we publish materials, dealing with the important tendency in the development of Belarusian society that is the interaction of the democratic forces with independent analysts and researchers. The article by the member of the Advisory Board of the IISEPS, Professor Yuri Khadyka is devoted to the results and prospects of a series of meetings between members of the Coordinating Council of the Belarusian Think Tanks with the Coordinating Council of the Democratic Forces, which took place in December 1999 – March 2000 at the initiative of the IISEPS. The article by the IISEPS expert Mikhail Zalesski deals with another event, the presentation of the “Strategy for Belarus”, a program of development of Belarusian society drafted by experts from the United Civil Party, the Belarusian Social Democratic Party “Narodnaya Gramada”, the Belarusian Popular Front and independent analysts with support from the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in Belarus and presented in the IBB Center on March 18.
We hope that you will find the articles published in this issue interesting and useful and that they will be conducive to a better understanding and quicker solution of the most acute and urgent problems of the development of the Belarusian state and society. As usually, we encourage your responses.

 

IISEPS Board